The companies compare customers’ DNA samples to samples they have from people around the world who have lived in a certain area for generations. The samples come from some databases to which all scientists have access, and the companies may also collect their own.

“We’re able to look at, what are the specific markers, what are the specific segments of DNA that we’re looking at that help us to identify, ‘Those people are from this part of northern Europe or southern Europe or Southeast Asia,'” Levin said.

As the companies collect more samples, their understanding of markers of people of a particular heritage should become more precise. But for now, the smaller the percentage of a population within a continent that is in the database, the less certain they are. Helix chooses not to report some of those smaller percentages, Levin said.

The 23andMe company reports results with a 50 percent confidence interval — they’re 50 percent sure their geographic placement is correct. Move the setting up to 90 percent confidence, meaning your placement in a region is 90 percent certain, and that small 1.6 percent of my ancestry that is Italian disappears.

The ancestry tests also have to take into account the fact that humans have been migrating for millennia, mixing DNA along the way. To contend with that, the companies’ analyses involve some “random chance,” as Levin put it. A computer has to make a decision.

And the ancestry companies have to make judgment calls. , a senior product manager with 23andMe, said their computers compare the DNA with 31 groups. “Let’s say a piece of your DNA looks most like British and Irish, but it also looks a little bit like French-German,” he said. “Based on some statistical measures, we’d decide whether to call that as British-Irish or French-German, or maybe we go up one level and call it northwestern European.”

What does he think explains my case?

“It was a bit surprising,” he said. “But in looking at the fact that you have some southern European and some French-German, the picture became a little clearer to me.”

So, for now, my Italian grandmother doesn’t show up in these tests. No matter — Chakravarti, Levin and Smith all say to let the results add to your life story. The DNA is just a piece of what makes you you.

Gisele Grayson is a senior producer on NPR’s Science Desk who runs the health reporting collaboration with member stations and Kaiser Health News.

target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>video

, puppies tumble while the announcer pitches, in Spanish, affordable plans and personalized service.

According to a Commonwealth Fund analysis, Hispanics have seen the  in the number of people insured of any ethnic group since the Affordable Care Act was passed. One ZIP code in the heart of Miami’s Cuban district saw the most marketplace sign-ups of any ZIP code in the country a couple of years ago. And market research shows that Latina women are very active video sharers.

[youtube=

Open enrollment for health insurance on the Affordable Care Act exchanges started last week. For anywhere from six weeks to a few months, , people can buy plans on the individual markets for 2018.

But the Trump administration has cut the ACA advertising budget by 90 percent, as well as money to pay navigators, people who help customers pick a plan and enroll.

So, across the country, municipalities, insurers and grass-roots organizations are working even harder to get the word out that the ACA is still in place. That explains the puppies.

California also sees Latinos as a key group for outreach, . The video strategy of , that state’s marketplace, is a little different, emphasizing how important insurance is for unexpected illness by telling the story of a young woman who needed a heart transplant.

[youtube=

In Phoenix, KJZZ’s Will Stone reported that the Arizona Public Interest Research Group is part of a grass-roots coalition advertising open enrollment. They are hoping to get younger people to sign up, because younger people tend to be healthier and less expensive. Insurance pools need young people to balance the expenses of older and sicker people.

But Diane Brown, who heads Arizona PIRG, said consumer confusion over health insurance, complicated enough already, has been exacerbated by the political wrangling over the ACA this year.

Pennsylvania’s insurance commissioner’s office is spending some of its department’s budget on education, including setting up  to help guide consumers through how to pick a plan, reported Elana Gordon from WHYY.

And in Tennessee, Blake Farmer of Nashville Public Radio said that even though the navigator budget was cut, it was cut only by 15 percent and the state found enough savings in other places to 

Moving along to Texas, KUT’s Ashley Lopez found that in the bigger cities, local taxpayers are filling in the gap. Austin is spending a lot more money this year on outreach efforts. Michelle Tijerina works for , which provides health care for low-income people in Travis County and is funded by local property taxes.

“We will have ads on radio — English and Spanish. We will be on Facebook. We will have Google ads and banners. We will be out in the community, talking to schools,” Tijerina said.

Tijerina said Central Health is also hiring twice as many people this year to help folks sign up once enrollment starts.

This story is part of a reporting partnership with NPR, local member stations and .

The companies compare customers’ DNA samples to samples they have from people around the world who have lived in a certain area for generations. The samples come from some databases to which all scientists have access, and the companies may also collect their own.

“We’re able to look at, what are the specific markers, what are the specific segments of DNA that we’re looking at that help us to identify, ‘Those people are from this part of northern Europe or southern Europe or Southeast Asia,'” Levin said.

As the companies collect more samples, their understanding of markers of people of a particular heritage should become more precise. But for now, the smaller the percentage of a population within a continent that is in the database, the less certain they are. Helix chooses not to report some of those smaller percentages, Levin said.

The 23andMe company reports results with a 50 percent confidence interval — they’re 50 percent sure their geographic placement is correct. Move the setting up to 90 percent confidence, meaning your placement in a region is 90 percent certain, and that small 1.6 percent of my ancestry that is Italian disappears.

The ancestry tests also have to take into account the fact that humans have been migrating for millennia, mixing DNA along the way. To contend with that, the companies’ analyses involve some “random chance,” as Levin put it. A computer has to make a decision.

And the ancestry companies have to make judgment calls. , a senior product manager with 23andMe, said their computers compare the DNA with 31 groups. “Let’s say a piece of your DNA looks most like British and Irish, but it also looks a little bit like French-German,” he said. “Based on some statistical measures, we’d decide whether to call that as British-Irish or French-German, or maybe we go up one level and call it northwestern European.”

What does he think explains my case?

“It was a bit surprising,” he said. “But in looking at the fact that you have some southern European and some French-German, the picture became a little clearer to me.”

So, for now, my Italian grandmother doesn’t show up in these tests. No matter — Chakravarti, Levin and Smith all say to let the results add to your life story. The DNA is just a piece of what makes you you.

Gisele Grayson is a senior producer on NPR’s Science Desk who runs the health reporting collaboration with member stations and Kaiser Health News.

target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>video

, puppies tumble while the announcer pitches, in Spanish, affordable plans and personalized service.

According to a Commonwealth Fund analysis, Hispanics have seen the  in the number of people insured of any ethnic group since the Affordable Care Act was passed. One ZIP code in the heart of Miami’s Cuban district saw the most marketplace sign-ups of any ZIP code in the country a couple of years ago. And market research shows that Latina women are very active video sharers.

[youtube=

Open enrollment for health insurance on the Affordable Care Act exchanges started last week. For anywhere from six weeks to a few months, , people can buy plans on the individual markets for 2018.

But the Trump administration has cut the ACA advertising budget by 90 percent, as well as money to pay navigators, people who help customers pick a plan and enroll.

So, across the country, municipalities, insurers and grass-roots organizations are working even harder to get the word out that the ACA is still in place. That explains the puppies.

California also sees Latinos as a key group for outreach, . The video strategy of , that state’s marketplace, is a little different, emphasizing how important insurance is for unexpected illness by telling the story of a young woman who needed a heart transplant.

[youtube=

In Phoenix, KJZZ’s Will Stone reported that the Arizona Public Interest Research Group is part of a grass-roots coalition advertising open enrollment. They are hoping to get younger people to sign up, because younger people tend to be healthier and less expensive. Insurance pools need young people to balance the expenses of older and sicker people.

But Diane Brown, who heads Arizona PIRG, said consumer confusion over health insurance, complicated enough already, has been exacerbated by the political wrangling over the ACA this year.

Pennsylvania’s insurance commissioner’s office is spending some of its department’s budget on education, including setting up  to help guide consumers through how to pick a plan, reported Elana Gordon from WHYY.

And in Tennessee, Blake Farmer of Nashville Public Radio said that even though the navigator budget was cut, it was cut only by 15 percent and the state found enough savings in other places to 

Moving along to Texas, KUT’s Ashley Lopez found that in the bigger cities, local taxpayers are filling in the gap. Austin is spending a lot more money this year on outreach efforts. Michelle Tijerina works for , which provides health care for low-income people in Travis County and is funded by local property taxes.

“We will have ads on radio — English and Spanish. We will be on Facebook. We will have Google ads and banners. We will be out in the community, talking to schools,” Tijerina said.

Tijerina said Central Health is also hiring twice as many people this year to help folks sign up once enrollment starts.

This story is part of a reporting partnership with NPR, local member stations and .